This invention is related to the container dispensing industry and, more particularly, to the field of positioning and displaying containers and associated methods.
Manufacturers of beverages or any product sold in a substantially cylindrical container spend considerable time in positioning a label on the container to advertise their product. The label positioned on the container is very important because it aids the consumer in making a decision as to which container to purchase. It is believed, for example, that many consumers are more likely to purchase a beverage in a container that they can readily identify. If the consumer cannot identify the beverage because the label is not visible or easily recognizable, then the consumer is less likely to purchase the beverage.
A current problem with container dispensing systems, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,094 by spamer et al. titled xe2x80x9cComposite Organizer Shelf,xe2x80x9d however, is that when a container is loaded into such a container rack and travels forward to the dispensing area, the container rotates and the label is not properly positioned so as to face potential customers viewing the container in the forward dispensing area. This problem is made more complex when there is a plurality of containers positioned in the container dispensing rack.
Accordingly, beverage producers or manufacturers in the container dispensing industry currently address the problem of rotation of containers in display racks by hiring persons or using current personnel to go to convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores and anywhere else that container display racks are used and manually turn the containers so that the labels positioned on the containers can be readily viewed by a potential or actual customer in the forward dispensing area. Retailers often do not manually rotate the containers because the retailer does not have the same vested interest in selling a particular brand or manufacturer.
Problems with this manual label positioning solution, for example, include that it is timely, very expensive and presents only a temporary solution. The cost of hiring persons or using current personnel to go from store to store to simply position labels on containers positioned in a display rack are very high as well as time consuming. The persons who manually turn the containers also often only turn the first row of containers so that labels face in a forward direction towards the forward dispensing area. When a container positioned behind the forward most container advances to the forward dispensing area the container will rotate and the label again will not be positioned in a forward direction. Another problem with this proposed solution is that a person who rotates the container will not be able to align the labels precisely to result in a uniform position of the labels affixed to the container.
Examples of devices developed to prevent rotation of a single container when positioned in a rectangular box can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,461 by McGinnis titled xe2x80x9cPackaged Bottle with Rotation Preventing Insert Member,xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 2,325,224 by Bryant titled xe2x80x9cBottle Holder.xe2x80x9d These devices, however, only prevent rotation of a single bottle in a single rectangular box to thereby allow the label on the bottle to show through a viewing area of the box such as when the box is positioned on a shelf. These devices likewise do not address or recognize problems associated with display racks for a plurality of containers.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention advantageously provides a container display rack system and methods to prevent rotation of arcuate shaped portions of a container positioned in a container display rack array system. This system advantageously allows for labels affixed to containers to remain in a forwardly viewable direction while positioned in the container display rack array. This is very important for container manufacturers because it provides a customer with a way of identifying the manufacturer""s product. The containers are advantageously serially aligned within each container rack. Container racks can also advantageously be positioned in a side-by-side relationship so as to provide a plurality of serially aligned columns of containers positioned in the container display rack array.
There are several advantages to utilizing this type of container rotation preventing system. For example, the system provides the container dispensing industry with a fast economical way to insure that the labels affixed to containers face in a forwardly direction to be readily viewed by customers positioned in a forward dispensing area. The system eliminates the need for manual rotation of containers positioned in a conventional container display rack which have rotated so as not to be serially aligned in the container rack. The rotation prevention technique utilized in this system and methods also advantageously cuts down on loading time. A person hired to load containers into a conventional display rack is responsible for inserting the containers into the display rack and then rotating the forward most containers to insure that the labels positioned on the forward row of containers face in a forward direction to be readily viewable by customers in the forward dispensing area. A person hired to load containers into a container rotation preventing system can simply load the containers into the container display rack and since the containers will not rotate as they travel to the forward dispensing area, e.g., by gravity force, the person loading the containers will not need to take extra time to rotate the containers to face in a forward position towards the viewing area.
The container rotation prevention technique also advantageously includes kits which can be ordered from the manufacturer to attach to conventional container display racks. Individual container display rack adaptors can readily be inserted into a conventional container display rack to prevent rotation of containers positioned in the container display rack. This makes the transformation from a conventional container display rack system to the system that prevents rotation very inexpensive. The container rack adaptors also advantageously allow for only certain racks in an array to be adapted to use the rotation prevention technique and others to use the conventional container dispensing technique, depending on the needs of the owner.
The container rotation prevention technique still further advantageously includes another embodiment of a rack insert positioned to overly the container rotation preventing track stops to allow for conventional containers to be used in the new container rack. This insert allows for any type of container to be used with the container rotation prevention system depending on the needs of the owner.
Another advantageous embodiment of the container rotation prevention technique is removable container track stops. The track stops positioned on a common container track may be removed by the owner of the display rack to allow for containers which do not include container rotation stop members to readily travel along the container track to the forward dispensing area.
The impact of the label on the consumer is a very important marketing edge for the container manufacturers. A label will more likely affect the decision of a consumer viewing such label from the forward dispensing area only if the label is readily viewable to the consumer. If the consumer cannot view the label due to the problem of container rotation, the marketing edge is lost. The container display rack system optimizes the time and efforts of marketing a product.
A container display rack array system according to the present invention preferably includes a rack having a forwardly extending dispensing area and a common container track along which a container travels forward to the forwardly extending dispensing area. The track preferably includes at least one container rotation track stop for stopping rotation of the container when positioned along the container track and at least one container positioned in the rack having an arcuate shaped portion thereof and at least one container rotation stop member positioned to slidably engage the container rotation track stop of the container track so that rotation of the container is prevented when positioned in the display rack.
The present invention also advantageously provides a gravity fed display rack array having a plurality of racks each positioned adjacent at least one other rack in a side-by-side relationship so that the plurality of racks in combination define a plurality of columns and rows when a plurality of containers are positioned therein. The gravity fed display rack also has a forwardly extending dispensing area defined by forward portions of each of the plurality of columns of the racks so that when a plurality of containers is positioned in each of the columns gravity force allows the containers to move forwardly when one of the containers is removed from one of the columns of the dispensing area. Each rack includes a common container track along which a plurality of containers serially align. The common container track includes container rotation stopping means for stopping the rotation of each container when positioned along the container track.
The present invention further advantageously provides a container positioned in the rack having an arcuate shaped portion and at least one container rotation stop member positioned to slidably engage a container rotation track stop to prevent rotation of the container when the container is positioned in the display rack. The rotation stop member is preferably formed into, connected to, or associated with the arcuate portion of the container which otherwise has a tendency to rotate.
The present invention also advantageously provides a method of dispensing at least one container positioned in a display rack system. The method preferably includes guiding the at least one container along a common container track to the forward dispensing area, preventing rotation of the at least one container by slidably engaging portions of the at least one container with portions of the common container track, and stopping travel of the at least one container so that a substantially complete front portion of a label positioned on the at least one container is positioned adjacent the forward most portion of the dispensing area.
The present invention still further advantageously provides a method of loading at least one container into a container display rack. The method preferably includes loading the at least one container includes positioning said container in the container display rack and engaging at least one container rotation stop member positioned on an arcuate shaped portion of the at least one container with at least one container rotation track stop positioned adjacent the common container track. Once the container has been loaded so as to engage the container rotation stop member with the container rotation track stop, the container can advantageously slide along the common container track free of rotation and come to a resting position at the forwardly extending dispensing area.
By providing a container display rack system which prevents rotation of containers positioned in a display rack the container dispensing industry, more specifically, the beverage container industry, can inexpensively insure that the resources spent on the marketing and placing of a label upon a container are not wasted due to the fact that containers are rotated in a display rack so as not to allow the labels on the containers to be visible.